Canadians not cross-border shopping like they used to
30.05.2008 01:00
Shopping
- Source: cbc.ca
 Canadian motorists made fewer trips to the U.S. in the first quarter of 2008, Statistics Canada said.(CBC)Canadians didn't spend as much in the U.S. during the first three months of the year as they did in the previous quarter, as cross-border shopping lost some of its lustre, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. The international travel deficit — the difference between the amount Canadians spend in foreign countries and the amount foreigners spend in Canada — slipped to $3.1 billion in the first three months this year. That's down from a seasonally adjusted $3.4 billion in the fourth quarter of 2007. Most of the drop was due to less spending by Canadians in the U.S. StatsCan noted that cross-border shopping by Canadians increased "significantly" in the last half of 2007 as the loonie reached parity with the U.S. dollar. But things changed early this year. "With the loonie peaking in November 2007 and many Canadian businesses adjusting their prices, the cross-border shopping phenomena has somewhat slowed down in the first months of 2008," the agency said. Canadian travellers made 6.3 million same-day car trips south of the border in the first quarter of 2008. That's a drop of 5.1 per cent from the fourth quarter of 2007. Overnight travel fell for the first time in more than two years. It's also possible that severe winter weather in many parts of Canada made Canadians more reluctant to venture south, Statistics Canada said. Figures released earlier this month showed that the number of same-day car trips by Americans to this country in March was down 24 per cent from a year earlier. So it isn't surprising that Statistics Canada reported that U.S. visitors to Canada spent less in this country during the first three months of the year than they had in 10 years. Story Tools: E-MAIL | PRINT | Text Size: SMLXL | REPORT TYPO | SEND YOUR FEEDBACKRelatedInternal LinksTravel to Canada hits record lowMoney HeadlinesU.S. mishaps leave CIBC with $1.1B lossCaught in U.S. credit-market chaos, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce is reporting a second-quarter loss of $1.1 billion, compared with a profit of $807 million a year earlier.Oil plunges more than $4 US a barrel in wild tradingCrude oil futures fell sharply in a day of volatile trading Thursday, even though inventory figures showed U.S. supplies of oil unexpectedly fell in the last week. RBC profit falls 27 per cent amid U.S. market woesCanada's biggest bank is reporting a 27 per cent drop in profit and a 13 per cent drop in revenue as it licks wounds suffered in U.S. credit markets.Canada's latest free-trade amigo is PeruThe Harper government has signed a free trade agreement with Peru, setting the scene for it to be tabled for debate in Parliament.National Bank quarterly profit falls 29 per cent to $165M on ABCP hitNational Bank of Canada suffered a 29 per cent setback in second-quarter profit as it booked $73 million in losses related to asset-backed commercial paper. Money FeaturesMONEY TALKSEllen RosemanComparing credit card travel rewardsEMPLOYMENTWork daySouth Korea, Greece top OECD list of hours workedBIZ HITVideo UpdateHourly market wrap from CBC NewsworldPeople who read this also read …
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